Pictet Asset Management Holding SA Boosts Stake in Aspen Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZPN)

Pictet Asset Management Holding SA lifted its stake in shares of Aspen Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZPN) by 22.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 15,389 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,865 shares during the period. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA’s holdings in Aspen Technology were worth $3,842,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in Aspen Technology during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Atala Financial Inc purchased a new position in shares of Aspen Technology during the 4th quarter valued at about $44,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its position in Aspen Technology by 965.0% in the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 213 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $53,000 after buying an additional 193 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in Aspen Technology by 5,700.0% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 232 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $58,000 after buying an additional 228 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in Aspen Technology by 30.1% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 251 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $63,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 45.66% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Loop Capital upgraded shares of Aspen Technology from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $265.00 to $315.00 in a report on Monday, February 10th. Baird R W downgraded shares of Aspen Technology from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. StockNews.com began coverage on Aspen Technology in a research note on Sunday, March 30th. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on Aspen Technology from $240.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Robert W. Baird restated a “neutral” rating and set a $265.00 price target (down from $275.00) on shares of Aspen Technology in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $272.00.

Aspen Technology Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AZPN opened at $264.33 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $264.66 and a 200-day moving average price of $251.66. The company has a market cap of $16.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3,304.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.73. Aspen Technology, Inc. has a 12 month low of $171.25 and a 12 month high of $277.37.

Aspen Technology (NASDAQ:AZPN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The technology company reported $1.88 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.85 by $0.03. Aspen Technology had a return on equity of 3.17% and a net margin of 0.54%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Aspen Technology, Inc. will post 6.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Aspen Technology Profile

Aspen Technology, Inc provides industrial software that focuses on helping customers in asset-intensive industries worldwide. The company’s solutions address complex environments where it is critical to optimize the asset design, operation, and maintenance lifecycle. Its software is used in performance engineering, modeling and design, supply chain management, predictive and prescriptive maintenance, digital grid management, and industrial data management.